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state Historical Society
MONROE CITY
m
Volume XXXI
Monroe City, Missouri, Friday, October 25, 1918
Number 30
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For The Blue Triangle
A long, low building of frame
construction, attractively planned,
with wide verandas and a homelike
aspect. Outside are banging the
flags the Stars and Stripes, which
must soon be taken in as it is near
ly sunset, and another flag bearing
a little triangle of blue and tb.3 let
ters Y. W. C. A. It is a fall after
noon and the air a bit sharp
Through the front windows of the
house the woman approaching up
the walk can see the cheerful glow
of an open fireplace. There is the
sound of a piano and some one is
singing.
The woman, who is slight and
young end tired-loukiDg, puts her
heavy suit case down on the walk
and shifts the baby she is carrying
to the other arm. She listens a
minute, then picks up the luggage
and walks bravely up to the front
door. Some one has beard her
coming and is there to meet her.
Some one always is in places like
this. The door is thrown open and
a kind woman's voice says: "Oh,
do come in and rest. Let me take
the baby." The baby is passed
over and the stranger, worn from a
long journey, tired and sad, is given
the welcome which only the Y. W.
C. A. hostesses know how to give.
She explains that she has come
to see John before he leaves for the
front. She has been saving her
money for traveling expenses, and
has Come to surpriserhinl John
has never seen the baby, and now
maybe he never will, for she has
discovered that John has just left
on a two days' furlough to surprise
her Before she could get a train
back to her home John's furlough
will have expired and he will be
on his way back to camp. The lit
tie mot tier does not know how to
meet the situation and tears of
fatigue and disappointment begin
to flow.
Well, that's too bad." says the
sympathetic Y. W. C. A. worker.
"But cheer up. You can just stay
here for a couple of days. We'll
end a wire to John at the first
place his train stops and tell him
to take the next train back. He
can enjoy his furlough here."
This is done and the little family
Has a glorious day of it.
The Young Women's Christian
association has established 92 bos
teas houses of this character for
American soidiers and sailors and
I their families In this brief bulletin
news lies one of the most potent
factors in winning of this war. Our
boys are fighting for their homes
The Yv W. C. A. with its hostess
work in this country and in France
is helping to keep the ideal of
American home life constantly be
tore the men who are protecting
it. These men had to go away from
their individual homes, but there is
0 home which follows them a
place where they can go when they
ere off duty and meet their families
and rest. There is a room in every
Y.: W. C. A. hostess house with 1 a
real fireplace in it and a domestic
hearth. There are chairs with cush
ions on them; the china is. not of
f the iron-bound bucket varie
: ty necessary in camps; and best of
' , all; the boys say, there are nice
wtomen to talk to. No boy in camp
would hesitate to ask his mother or
p40teter or the girls he thinks most of
V to meet him at a Y. W. C A. house
for he knows that the women she
will see there are of the right kind.
The very fact that it is known that
there is a real, homey place near
each camp authorized by the war
department and presided over by
dignified and refined women, has
served very largely to discourage
the other type of woman and keep
her away from the men she former
ly preyed upon.
ine i. w. u. A. houses are not
established with any view to mark
ing class lines, however, although
many of the hostesses who assist
led lives of greatest ease and lux
ury before the war. Democracy
rules at the sign of the little Blue
Triangle.
. siory is iota oi a great mer
chant's wife whose individual for
tune mounts to the million mark
This lady is a member of one of the
Y. W. C. A committees, and on one
occasion she was helping in the
cafeteria of a hostess house at the
Great Lakes naval training station
A little shop girl who bad a "day
off" from her work in the basement
of the great store owned by the Y
W. C. A. worker's husband, and who
had come to see her sailor brother
was in a State street hurry for
service. She sharply ordered the
merchant's wife to "look alive with
these forks, girlie."
The Iddy addressed as "girlie"
quite humbly saw to it that the pile
of forks was replenished. Then she
went over and talked to the girl,
helped her to locate her brother
rand 'sent" her a'way "nabov The
shop girl never knew that she had
been taking to her employer's vtife
There are two hostess houses at
the Great Lakes station, and it is a
wonderful sight to see the crowds
of women relatives and friends of
the sailors who throng to them on
the Wednesday drill afternoons
r rom 1X00 to 3000 persons a day
are cared for in the cafeterias, and
the nurseries are full of sailor
babies, whose mothers can leave
them there safely while they are on
the grounds
In addition to the hostess house
work in this country the Y. W. C. A
has established the famous Hotel
Petrograd in Pans as a center for
transient women war workers over
seas, inere are also many foyers
or recreation centers in France
where girl munitions workers, sig
nal corps girls and others are re
freshed and brightened by associa
lion with the play leaders of the
Y. W. C. A. who have introduced
rtwencan gymnasium classes into
French life.
Corporation Tax Loss.
The effects of the war in Mi9
soun are reflected in the receipts
into the state treasury from the
organization of dometic corpora
iions. rrom uctooer 1, 1917, to
the first of the present month the
loss from this source was $206,602.
Many of the existing corporations
are reducing their capital stock and
their surplus. This action is not so
much due to the war as to. the fact
that every corporation must pay an
annual tax to the state of 7 1-2
cents on each $100. In addition
these corporations must pay a state
tax of 15 cents on the $100 as an
advalorem levy on the amount ol
goods and wares they have on hand
and $5 a year to the iSood road
fund.
The Missouri Baptist General As
sociation has been postponed and
will now be held in Jefferson City
November 11-14 provided the quar
antine is lifted by that time. '
End of Invincibility.
When Bulgaria signed an armis
tice on the terms laid down by the
Allies, febe did more than break
with the Central Powers alliance.
She broke the belief prevailing un
til lately over a great part a Europe
that Germany was invincible.
With that belief as her invisible
weapon, Germany used Austria
Hungary as the tool with which to
plunge the world into war. With
it, she was enabled to win the
Turks and the Bulgarians to her
standards. It has been her greatest
aid in her dealings with Holland,
Spain and the Scandinavian na
tions. Constantine of Greece bad
the utmost faith in German invin
cibility and by reason of it broke
the treaty with Serbia, betrayed
his own subjects and let himself
be employed as spy and servant
Russia, finally come to the end of
her resources, comforted herself
with the notion that, after all. the
entente would have to give up the
struggle just as the Russiaus did.
says the Toledo Blade.
Materially, the downfall of Bul
garia is of democracy. Military
men will pronounce the advantages
gained as beyond all price. But
morally, the Allies' victory is worth
far more than anything to be meas
ured in terms of arms nnd men
The belief in the supreme power
of Germany to wreak her will on
the world has been so shattered, so
crushed and ground into the earth.
that it can never again be put to
use by Prussia. And :ytb that out
oi tne way. Germany will have to
fight purely on her merits as a
Cghting machine.
T - i .t . i
ii is a loss wnicn mere is no
chance of her recovering.
For a Pure Seed L?w.
The Missouri Farmers' Ass'n. will
ask tne next Legislation to enact a
rigid Pure Seed Law for the protec
tion of Missouri farmers. For years
Missouri has been a "dumping
ground" for the crooked seed houses
in this and surrounding states and
our farmers have paid hundreds of
thousands of dollars for seed which
was worse than worthless. Such
states as Illinois, Indiana, Iowa.
Kansas and Nebraska have had
pure seed laws for years and hence
these crooked seed concerns sell
their good seeds in these states and
dump the bad 6tuff over into Mis
souri where there is no law to call
them to account In the last sev
eral Legislatures, Sam M. Jordan,
the famous Chariton County Farm
Agent made a strenuous effort to
put these "Seed Hogs" out of busi
nessbut a strong and daring lobby
has always frustrated his plans Ad
thus tne pure seed bills never got
further than the introduction
stage.
But the Missouri Farmers' Ass'n
represents 30,000 of the best and
brighest farmers in Missouri and
its Board of Directors have "blood
in their eye on this question. An
air tight" bill will be introduced
the moment the Legislature con
venesand woe to the Legislator
who doesn't "come clean" on it or
who tries any "dark lantern" meth
ods while it is making the journey
through the Committees. In the
meantime, the Ass'n is anxious to
collect as much direct information
as possible from farmers who have
gotten "stung" on bad seed during
the last two or three years and such
farmers are asked to write to the
Missouri Farmers'- Ass'n. Colum
bia. Mo.v
Go to Miss Belle Johnson
for
high-grade enlargements.
"After Bib War."
According to the reconstruction
resolutions before Congress, it ap
pears that no plans have yet been
seriously considered for the demob
lization of our Army and Navy af
ter the war. The problem as to
what is to be done with these men
must be solved.
Secretary Lane of the Interior De
partment, appears to be the only
Cabinet officer who has come for
ward to announce a plau of better
ment for our soldiers when they re
turn from the battle fronts. Nev
ertheless it is a fact that practical
ly ever Department and Bureau of
the Government has been develop
ing ways and means toward recon
struction, and they will all be put
forward. Secretary Lane, in a let
ter to the President, recalls that fol
lowing the Civil War the soldiers
went upon the homestead land
which was thrown open to entry.
Congress is asked to get busy upon
a plan that has been outlined by
him to prepare government lands,
to supply drainage and other im
portant and extensive improve
ments that will be necessary before
land in great quantities can be
available. At the close of the Civil
War this was an agricultural rather
than a manufacturing nation, and
it is impossible to forecast the per
centage of soldiers who will go up
farm lands. It will ba necessary to
provide employment for five mil
lion men ftnu to transfer millions of
war workers into employment in
civil life.
There is in process of completion
war orders amounting to billions of
dollars, and when a declaration of
peace comes most of these will!
necessarily be cancelled immediare
ly. Congress is beginning to pay
attention to these problems which
will email great losses to manufac
turers -running into amounts ag
gregating billions of dollars, and the
adjustment of which will create a
situation of uncertainty, that will
exist for years to come. "Intimate
ly connected with the question of
labor is the one relating to social
welfare," declared one of the Sena
rors. who added that the European
countries have steps, nationally, re
lating to welfare questions; for ex
ample, the provision for old age
pensions, life insurance and other
sioular matters.
Don't Burn The Leaves.
Forest leaves of all sorts are rich
in the chemical elements that plants
need. Rotten leaves or leafmold is
one of the oldest and best fertilizers
used by gardeners, for it not only
enriches the sou but gives to it a
fine loose texture which is ideal for
plantgrowth. Garden soils of the
rawest and poorest condition will
show much improvement next
spring if a quantity of leaves is
spaded in this fall. Old gardeners
treat a strip of ground in this way
each fall, on which to grow the
most delicate vegetables the next
year.
When leaves are raked up in the
fall they should be dumped on the
garden, or better still, piled up with
a small amount of manure. This
will form a compost of the richest
kind after the leaves have rotted.
The compost is spread thinly in the
rows when planting spring crops.
Mixed with an equal quantity of
earth, it makes the best potting soil
for house plants and for use on
flower' beds. Leaves from trees
along the street should always be
raked up and used by gardeners in
in the neighborhood, and forest
leaves should be collected wherever
available. . I
Hard Times For Grocers.
In spite of high prices, thegtocers
appear to be having a hard time.
The government is holding down
the prices on many staples, and it
is claimed the margin allowed wilt
not cover cost of doing business.
In Omaha, Nebr., it U said 36 gro
cers have gone out of business in
three months.
There are in most towns more
grocery stores than the people need.
That is in a way true of all lines
of business, but it is particularly so
in this. It seems a comparatively
easy thing to stock up on a little
lot of canned goods and paper box
stuff and make money selling to
your neighbors. But it is not so
easy as it looks.
In many towns all through the
residences districts, a lot of little
grocery stores will start up just to
sell the immediate. If it is a thick
ly settled city, the near by trade
may warrant a store But this
thing is attempted where the popu
lation does not begin to be enough.
These little neighborhood stores
save people from carrying bun
dles home from the center. But
they can't possibly do business
enough to do it cheaply. The peo
ple who buy in the central districts
where the stores can attract a
large trade by advertising, are the
ones that get the bargains. Ia
ihese times people can not expect
to have goods on .siie within two
minutes walk.
It is always regrettable to see
people go into a business and be
disappointed. But they bhould have
considered whether they were serv
ing some essential need of the com
munity that was not being served
before. The people who try to ruu
iittle stores duplicating the service
that other concern renders and di
viding up the business, are not
much of a productive force. Tney
would do the community more
good and secure more permanent
employment, by entering some
more essential line of work.
Election Blanks.
The secretary of state is sending
out blanks to election officials on
which they will make their returns
for the November election. Copies
of the six constitutional amend
ments passed by the legislature
and the single tax and land loan
propositions submitted under in
itiative and referendum petitions
have been sent to officials for
posting.
.From what officials say a light
vote will be polled. Various esti
mates have been made as to the
number who voted at the last gen
eral election, or have since become
voters, and who will be out of the
state election day. These run from
125.000 up. Practically all are ia
the army or engaged in war work.
As the published lists of dead
and wounded daily grow in length
we understand more clearly that
America is paying the price of
world safety in the blood of her
youth. Death and battle are insep
arable, and we must steel our
hearts to the loss of loved ones
while the war continues, the loss
increasing in proportion to the ever-
increasing numbers taking part
in it.
Because it was founded in Eng
land, and because Salvationists
from all over the world are fighting
under the various flags of the Al
lies, the Salvation Army has been
wiped out of existence in Germany
and Austria by , a special order of
the Kaiser.
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